Ornamenting metallic buttons



, 11. w. HAYDEN. Y DIE FOR ORNAMENTING BUTTONS.

Patented July 11, 1854 2 Wzfnesaes;

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HIRAM W. HAYDEN, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

ORNAMENTING METALLIC BUTTONS.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM .W. HAYDEN,

of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented,

.made, and applied to use certain new and useful Means for Ornamenting Metallic Buttons or Similar Articles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, 1

and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of thisspecification, wherein Figure 1, is a plan of the lower the Fig.

2, is a section of the top and bottom dies,

and Fig. 3, is a plan of the under side of the top die. Fig. 4, represents the blank for the outside of the button. Fig. 5, shows the v same after the first blow has been given by the die, and Fig. 6, shows the surface ofthe button when completed by the second die.

Metallic buttons have heretofore been formed and chased in the followingmam, ner: The metallic blankchas been secured on 1 a metal die corresponding to the inside of said blank, or in cases Where the button is solid the die has been made with a recess to receive the shank or eye. The workman then lays out the design by a small cord angles, and applies the same to the bright parts of the metal one at a time with a hammer, thereby producing flat prismatic re-' fleeting surfaces which show 1n contrast to the deadened surface. Another plan has been pursued to produce an imitation of the chasing done by hand which is as follows: A piece of steel is turned with the end of the size and shape of the button to be produced, and on this while soft the design is laid out, frosted and indented with the prismatic punches, precisely in the same manner as the buttons themselves are chased. This die is then hardened and forced into a piece of soft steel turned to the required concavity which is thereby formed into a perfect die of the button to be produced. This die has to be hardened, and then the parts that are bright on the button have to be polished on the die, which very difficult operation will take the deadness off the surface that is to produce the dead. ground on the button, hence the bright and deadened parts of the button are not clear and distinct, and the die can merely be used for a cheap button, in no way approaching thosechased by hand. i

The nature of my invention as distinguished from the foregoing consists in forming a concave die in such mannerthat it operates on the whole of the surface to be deadened, and the surface of the die being entirely removed at those parts that require to be bright, they are left of the origi- I nal brightness of the metal, and then another die composed of punches each ground and highly polished in the required prismatic forms is impressed into the bright parts of the button forming flatprismatic reflecting surfaces; the whole button there by havingas good if not a better appearance than those buttons chased by hand, 'and by my means about thirty gross of buttons can be done in the same time that about two gross can be chased by hand.

The block a, in theaccompanying drawing is attached to the bed of anysuitable press, and is adjusted by screws as usual.

6, is a slide in the ends of which are adj usting screw 1, 1, to regulate the extent that a slide 0, set in the slide 6, is permitted to move, and 2, is a pin from the slide 0, passing through a slot in the slide 7), by which the same is moved from side to side.

(Z; i813. blank die which is turned on its upper end of a size and shape to receive the blank button shown in Fig. 4c.

e, is a block attached to the drop .ofthe press receiving in adovetail recess a slide f, in which are two holes, one receiving a die 9 the lower surface of which is turned concave of the section of the button and the surface thereof is frosted or deadened with rough punches, and the parts of the die which are not to touch the button are removed and the die is to be hardened as usual, after which the surface may be further deadened by the use of any suitable acid. The other hole in the slide f receives a ring it, which is turned slightly conical, and into this ring a series of steel bars are fitted, so that each bar will occupy a space and position corresponding with the parts in the die 9 that are removed to leave the bright spots on the button. All these bars are fitted and wedged tight into the ring and then the ends are cut ofi corresponding With the ends of the ring, and the punches producing the bright polagonal reflecting surfaces on the button. Each piece of steel is then removed from the ring and filed so as to leave the projecting lower end of the shape required, and then the punches are hardened and the ends ground and polished in the required polagonal or prismatic form with two, three or more flat surfaces. The

, workman in using these dies takes a blank Fig. 4, of the size and shape required for the button and places it on the blankdie (Z, and slides the same beneath the die 9, (the screws 1, 1, being properly adjusted for that purpose) and causes the die 9 to descend and impress the blank, which leaves the same in the form shown in Fig. 5, and then he slides the die d, and the blank button thus partially formed beneath the die h and punches i, by the descent and impression of which the ornamenting of the button is completed, and where the button is not solid, the back and eye are to be attached as usual.

It will be seen that different designs can be produced, the dies being constructed accordingly, and applied to buttons or other articles.

From the foregoing it will be seen that ornamenting buttons by forming some parts bright while others are deadened to show the contrast is not new, but by subjecting the blanks to a deadened die and then to a bright die a better article is produced, be cause the deadened appearance of the die is not harmed by polishing the bright parts,

as is the case where the bright and deadened surfaces are formed in one die, and by constructing the other die of a series of punches, each one can be ground and polished in the most perfect manner and at any required angle, similar to the polishing of precious stones, and if the punches become dull, they can be taken out, and ground and polished as good as new. And if pre- Y ferred with any particular design the dead die may be made of a cluster of punches inclosed in a ring the end being properly formed, but I prefer the solid dead die shown.

I do not claim combining a series or cluster of bright and deadened punches in one die, to produce the whole design or figure by one blow of the die, as this has been done, but in this case the punches must fit perfectly together, or not cover the whole surface, or else the line of the joint between the dies will be apparent in the blank or button produced; but with my die'the whole of the deadened surface being struck in first, the spots are left of their original height or raised by the surrounding compression, so that when the die of polished punches z is used to complete the design, the punches i, are forced into a raised spot thereby pro-- ducing a far better effect consequent upon the thickness of metal in which the bright polagonal punches are impressed, an eifect that cannot be so well produced where all the dies are struck in at once, besides my dies are far more easily constructed.

I claim The method herein described and shown for ornamenting metallic buttons and similar articles by submitting the same to the separate operations of deadened and bright dies constructed substantially as set forth, for the purposes, and operating as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature this sixteenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.

H. W. HAYDEN.

Witnesses:

NORTON J. BUEL, RoB'r. CRANE. 

